This post was actually written yesterday. I’m spending the day with family, not sitting in front of a computer.

Thanksgiving isn’t my favorite holiday. (Neither is Christmas, the usual popular choice.) I don’t feel the need to criticize it for historical connotations, as many do every year. But as a Christian, I find it an important holiday – it’s a day to reflect on what blessings I’ve received and how fortunate I am.

I’m thankful I’ve walked this Earth for thirty years (next week, that is; close enough). The Lord has given me an appointed time, and I don’t know what it is. I’ve wasted so much of it on things that didn’t and don’t matter, but every year I’m given is a blessing.

I’m thankful for my wife of five years. She has blessed me in ways I never anticipated, calls me out when I need to be taken down a notch, and builds me up when I’m low. She’s my first reader, my editor, and one of the few people that can tell me what she really thinks of an idea. She’s encouraged me on my many endeavors, and without her I couldn’t do what I do.

I’m thankful for my son. As I write this, he brings a smile to my face as he’s sitting in his high chair chomping on his favorite food: an apple. He drives me nuts sometimes, but he’s brought joy and laughter to our home that I didn’t know was missing. And he’s so stinkin’ cute it’s ridiculous.

I’m thankful for my family. Though we sometimes fight, we disagree, we argue, I also know that I can call at any time from anywhere and have all the help I could ever need. My father in particular has made many things in my life possible – advice and willing hands whenever I need to fix a car or swing a hammer or drive a screw.

I’m grateful for the ability to provide for my family. I have a sound mind and body, and I’m able to hunt to put venison on the table or spend days cutting up and processing beef. I’m able to work to provide money or repair our home or do any of a hundred things to ensure my wife and son are warm, sheltered, and fed.

I’m thankful for independent publishing. New technology like print-on-demand, Kindle, and Nook allow me to put books out even if I can’t find a regular publisher – and make more money off them than I would under a standard contract.

I’m thankful for a church that is closer than many families.  They, too, will come at a moment’s notice and provide an ear when I need to talk. Though there are only a handful of people in the church close to my age, they are valuable friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Finally, I’m thankful for Jesus Christ. His Word provides hope and guidance and sustains me spiritually. The words I have are insufficient to describe the importance of his grace, and how that affects me each and every day, consciously and unconsciously.

So today, I’m thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.